Idle Curiosities
by wyles77
Summary: The morning after the night before, Liara re-discovers the joy of being curious... Post Better Angels, a little coda.


**A/N**: _I'd like to dedicate this story to BA Tanglepaw in honour of an extraordinary year of friendship. Here's to it being the first of many_.

_Bioware owns Mass Effect and its characters, I'm just playing in the sandbox._

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><p><strong>Idle Curiosities<strong>

Liara T'Soni, scientist, explorer, information broker, and reluctant war hero, would readily admit to anyone who asked that her greatest weakness was her curiosity.

Her driving compulsion to know and understand as much as possible was also one of her greatest strengths; but in order to be a strength, that compulsion had to be directed. Too often as a student, to her chagrin, she would find her curiosity wandering, eagerly scampering off down pleasant little cul-de-sacs or poorly marked trails until she either reached an unsatisfying dead-end or became hopelessly lost in her own convoluted attempts to get back to the point. Too often as a researcher, it resulted in her spluttering an embarrassed apology as her mind almost gleefully absented itself from a conversation or meeting, distracted by the twinkling presence of new knowledge on the horizon.

The war had changed that, stripping away the innocence of her academic pursuits and granting them a terrible practicality, a functional goal that carried an unimaginable cost of failure. The war had broken her inquisitiveness to harness, slowly at first; one discovery at a time in the race to find Ilos and stop Saren. And the pace of that gentling might never have accelerated if loss had not dealt out its harsh lessons. Whereas the focus of the mission to stop Saren had been driven by a desire to help Shepard, the impetus of her quest to prepare herself and the galaxy for the coming apocalypse was the denial of grief. Lonely, afraid, and adrift from everything she knew, Liara had turned her energy to the only activity that granted her solace, granted her an immersion tank in which she could forget the shining happiness of her too-brief love affair; research.

But not now for her the lofty acquisition of knowledge for knowledge's sake; even had she been so inclined, her bruising encounters with the Shadow Broker and Cerberus would have put paid to any such notion. Her new, applied studies in shadow took her to places and people she could never have imagined prior to Shepard's abrupt arrival in her life, and save for Shepard's abrupt departure, would never have chanced upon. (Her gallant Spectre would have moved the very stars to shield her from such dark corners of the galaxy, she was sure.) Every encounter in the shadows reinforced the lesson; she could not afford to daydream, to lose focus, to be taken unawares. Every inquiry must have purpose, every avenue pursued must deliver an outcome, every fact gleaned or dataflow opened carried a price and an expectation of return on investment. Nothing was trivial, interesting for its own sake.

She'd toiled daily, practicing with every waking hour, hardening herself. Grinding away her preconceptions and assumptions. Sharpening her focus, whetting and re-whetting the edge of her mind to a scalpel-sharp precision. The result: a diamond-polished, razor-keen intellect allied to iron conviction and armoured in steel determination. But for all that work, all that graft, she still found herself brittle, hollow and susceptible to cracks, none more rending than the moment in which the resurrected Rachel Shepard had walked into her office after two long years and kissed her.

That had been the start of her re-forging. Partly it was a matter of love; Shepard's support, emotional and physical, restored balance to her personality, drawing her natural compassion and empathy from their deeply buried bunkers. Accordingly, she began to re-learn and adapt. Partly it was a matter of confidence; taking down the Shadow Broker freed her of both her greatest obligation and her greatest threat, and so liberated she found herself able to come up for air, step clear of the fray for a few sacred moments in the sure knowledge that no one was left to threaten her. And partly it was a matter of resource; with the Broker's network to direct rather than simply her own physically limited capacity, the returns on her investigations quickly snowballed, the data linking and crosslinking to form webs and networks that delivered intelligence without effort and dealt out actions at the touch of a button. There was so much to cover that it took up just as much of her effort, but the sheer range of activities enabled diversions into altruism and philanthropy, feelgood projects that both uplifted and re-enervated her.

By the time the Reapers finally came, she'd been ready, re-shaped and re-purposed, tempered by charity, compassion, and love. But if she could name the moment when she'd felt the process was truly complete, it was the moment she'd stood before the names of the fallen of the Normandy and made a vow to not to cast aside her love, her hope, her future, for a second fall into the abyss of mindless grief.

So what was she now? The question presented itself in the half-woken asari's mind as she climbed towards full consciousness. The answer was quick to follow.

_I'm free._

She was free to indulge in idle curiosity once more, to cast off the straitjacket of her intelligence network for a time. Free to ask simple questions. Free to seek knowledge of a thing without necessarily needing the information. Free to simply enjoy a conversation. Free to live.

Long after she'd settled Shepard into a deep, sated slumber last night, Liara had lain awake, her beloved Spectre cradled in her arms, contemplating the journey that had brought her to this point, charting the changes of course and perception that had brought her life to its single happiest moment. Cherishing the memory of the event that had occurred not seven hours gone…

_Rachel looks up and takes her hand. "Liara T'Soni, you're the centre of my life. I can't imagine living the rest of my days without you. I made you a promise that I'd always come back; now, I'd like us to share another promise. A commitment to stay with each other for as long as the universe will allow. Liara, I love you. Will you marry me?"_

_Tears sting Liara's eyes as she looks down at Shepard's earnest, nervous face. She proffers the box containing a simple ring of a curious iridescent metal set with a single diamond. "Yes, of course I will," Liara replies, dropping to her knees before Shepard. "I love you. Whatever time we are granted, I want every second of it."_

She'd rested in the welcoming dark, the memory playing over and over, each repetition soothing away a past hurt, a current concern, a future worry, until she'd drifted off, lulled by the gentle warmth of Shepard's body resting against her own.

Now, reluctantly awake, Liara shifted beneath the sheets, seeking a cooler space. There was a stripe of heat across the middle of the covers that seemed intent on burning through to reach her. Rolling away, she bumped gently against a solid, cool surface, and the unexpectedness of the contact forced her to reluctantly open her eyes. A plain, white-washed plaster wall greeted her, and a momentary disorientation set in. Not her cabin, not Shepard's, not that damnable cot in the hospital…the memory of the previous day flooded in as she turned back to be hit in the face by the bright golden sunshine streaming full force through the window. Shepard's grandfather's cabin. The lake, the mountains, Earth. And she was alone. Blinking furiously, she scooted over to the side of the bed still in the shade, sighing in relief at the coolness of the material and the return of her eyesight. Sitting up, she yawned and stretched, and took a good look around. She hadn't paid too much attention to this room last night, her focus wholly devoted to her bondmate's body and mind, re-learning every soft inch of skin, every silken strand of hair, every pleadingly gasped endearment, every treasured whisper of thought that comprised Rachel Shepard as both lover and beloved.

The room was spartan, but cosy; unable to bring herself to use the main bedroom... _"That was my grandparents room, and now it's my Mom's; sorry, but that's too weird"..._ Rachel had guided them to the room she had been able to call her own as a child. A bare wooden floor varnished to a deep, warm glow was scattered with a riot of small, brightly coloured rugs, and a battered-looking couch draped with a forest camouflage throw stood against the wall opposite the bed. There was a small unvarnished wooden wardrobe tucked into a corner, and an Alliance military-issue gunmetal-grey footlocker at the end of the bed. A dog-eared, yellowing poster advertising what was presumably a vid of some kind – Avengers - was tacked to the wall above the bed, and the half-drawn curtains were bright red and decorated with a repeating pattern of what looked to be a children's representation of a spaceship in blue and yellow. Sitting on the arm of the couch was a stuffed toy animal – a bear, Liara thought – wearing blue pants and a broad-brimmed brown hat. Peering at the hat, she could see there was writing on it, but it was too small to make out.

Liara smiled fondly as she looked around the room. There was nothing about it that she particularly associated with her bondmate, but she could see the effort that some loving relative had made to provide a friendly, welcoming environment for a child who didn't visit often. Rising from the bed, she spared a slight shiver for the temperature as she stooped and flipped open the foot locker. Inside she found a small, neatly squared stack of clothing – some worn, faded t-shirts and a few pairs of sweatpants and shorts. Selecting the top shirt and a pair of pale, white-blue shorts with frayed hems that appeared to have started life as trousers and been hacked down, Liara tugged the clean clothes on, identified the toy bear as "Smokey", made a quick stop in the bathroom, and went in search of Rachel.

She padded down the stairs to the dim, low-ceilinged, wood panelled main living room, where a jumbled hodgepodge of furniture in four or five different styles arranged around the big open fireplace provided plenty of comfortable seating for a large family gathering. Liara's cheeks coloured faintly as she spotted yesterday's clothes, both hers and Shepard's, hanging neatly from the arm of the couch nearest the fireplace, and the wrinkles in the thick, soft animal skin that rested before it. Shepard must have picked them up this morning; she was almost certain that they hadn't paused in their evening's activities to tidy their clothes away… _Liara strips Rachel's shirt and throws it carelessly to the floor, revelling in the human's warm skin being pressed against her own naked torso as she gathers Rachel into her arms and kisses her. It's been so long… _Stretching out one foot, Liara tugged the hide rug straight with her toes and continued on her path across the house, guided by the smell of coffee emanating from the kitchen. She could sense her bondmate was close by, but not precisely where.

The kitchen was deserted; the large, scrubbed wooden table with its six companion chairs held nothing but salt and pepper pots, the heavy stone worktops bore no trace of activity. Only the coffee pot hinted at life, the cheery orange glow of its power button winking at the asari as she approached. Shepard had hunted around in the cupboards for some tea last night, but had been unsuccessful… _"Sorry, sweetheart. No one in the family's a big tea drinker, I guess..." _Liara opened the cupboard and fished out a mug, pouring herself some coffee and adding two spoonfuls of sugar from the jar next to the pot. She wasn't a huge coffee fan, but it would do until they could find some tea. Curling her hands around the mug, she bumped the kitchen door open with her hip and stepped out onto the veranda.

Her eyes were drawn instantly to the spot beside the table where Shepard had proposed the previous evening, and she tilted her head to take in the ring adorning her left hand. She'd read about the human custom, of course, and the ring was quite beautiful, but what Liara treasured most about the moment was the words, the simple, earnest, eloquent statement of love and commitment. "Quite the poet, my commander," Liara whispered as she looked out over the pristine blue of the lake with its breathtaking backdrop of emerald forest beneath snow-capped peaks. "I am blessed."

Scanning the view, she spotted her bondmate, sitting at the end of the jetty that ran from the veranda straight out into the lake. Smiling, Liara set off along the walkway, enjoying the feel of the warm air, far warmer than in the house, and the sun-heated wood beneath her feet, glorying in the freedom and peace of their surroundings. Truly, this was a place where the weary could rest; where the wounded could heal. In all her travels, she didn't think she'd ever seen a more tranquil spot. Reaching Shepard, she sat down beside her, resting her feet on a strut below the decking, and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "You're up early," she noted as she sipped her drink.

Rachel laid her head against Liara's shoulder with a sigh, provoking a little spike of pleasure in the asari's chest. "Blame the hospital regime. I woke up for breakfast. I dozed for a little while, but then I saw the sun was out, and I thought…" She trailed off for a moment, as Liara began running her fingers gently through her hair. "I love the mornings here. Whenever I came to visit, I used to get up real early, and sit here watching the sun hit the water and burn off the morning fog as it cleared the mountains."

"You should have woken me," Liara chided softly.

"You looked so peaceful, I didn't like to," Shepard replied, shifting to place a return kiss on Liara's cheek.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Like a baby." Shepard reached out to run her thumb along Liara's jawline. "You tired me out pretty good." She pressed her thumb to the asari's lips, and Liara dropped a kiss against it.

"It was my distinct pleasure to do so," she teased, feeling her face heat and her heart rate pick up as intimate memory arose... _Rachel's head thrown back against Liara's shoulder, eyes closed, sweat beading on her brow, lip caught between her teeth; the salt taste of the skin of her neck beneath Liara's lips; her soft, needy groan as Liara caressed her sex while holding her close_... "You certainly seemed to enjoy the process."

"Oh, I did," Shepard agreed, "and I'm looking forward to repaying it in kind." She cupped Liara's face in her hands, and drew her in for a long, slow kiss. "I love you, Liara."

"I know," Liara assured her, "and I love you."

"I know," Shepard confirmed as she drew back and looked Liara up and down. "God, you look beautiful."

"I do?" Liara looked down in surprise. The grey marl t-shirt was quite tight, unusual for one of Shepard's tops; the human was broader shouldered and heavier framed than the asari, albeit less full in the chest. The shorts were a little too big in the waist, riding low on her hips and leaving a strip of bared skin below the hem of the t-shirt. "Thank you. Is it all right that I borrowed your clothes?"

"Oh, hell yeah," Shepard assented. "That shirt doesn't fit me any more – I was eighteen when I wore it last – but it looks good on you, and the shorts – damn, Li, your legs are amazing." Shepard rested her hand on Liara's knee, the warmth of her touch sending a pulse of heat to the asari's belly. "I mean, I knew that, but it's been a while since I really had the time to appreciate it."

Liara stretched her left leg out as she took a deep gulp of her coffee, then lowered it to trail her toes in the water, gasping slightly as the shock of the cold water made them tingle.

"Little chilly?" Shepard chuckled.

Liara stirred her foot round, testing the temperature. "It's not too bad, actually." She glanced across at Shepard. "So, where exactly are we?"

"Clearwater Lake," Shepard replied. "In the old nation state of Canada on the North American continent, at the western edge of the Rocky Mountains. Been wild country forever."

"It certainly lives up to its name," Liara observed. " The water is beautiful. Is your family from here originally?"

"No, further south, in what used to be the United States of America, though we did spread north with time as the military moved. Dad was born in Vancouver, but my grandfather was born in Oregon."

"What about your mother's family?"

"Oh, we don't talk about them. Future in-law safety tip: if you want to get on my Mom's bad side, that's the quickest route you can take." Shepard pulled a face. "I never met my grandparents. The Harrisons. They disowned Mom when she joined up, and they never contacted her. They weren't interested in Dad, or me, and that was pretty much that."

"I'd say that was very much their loss," Liara noted firmly. "Do you know why?"

"Not really. They didn't approve of Mom's decision to enlist. If I had to guess, I imagine some pretty petty, hurtful things were said, and then pride got in the way and finished the job that the disagreement started."

Liara nodded soberly. "I think that's exactly how it might have worked," she agreed, sudden, bitter regret churning in her stomach. Shepard turned to her, expression clouding swiftly with concern.

"Oh, Li. Sweetheart, I'm so sorry." Rachel pulled her into a tight, comforting hug. "I didn't mean..."

"It's all right," Liara assured her quickly. "It's something I'll always regret, but, and I imagine your mother feels the same, I know in my heart that my choices were correct, even if the outcome could have been more kind." She shrugged. "Do you know if your mother's family survived?"

It was Shepard's turn to shrug. "They lived in Washington DC, I think, so the odds aren't good. Mom was of the opinion that even if they had made it, they still wouldn't get in touch. It would seem that the Shepards and the Harrisons have one thing in common; a stubborn streak a mile wide." She frowned enquiringly. "What's with the sudden interrogation on the family tree?"

"I'm curious," Liara admitted.

"Well, I knew _that_," Shepard sassed fondly, stroking the folds of Liara's neck with a gentle cadence.

"And it's one of those things I should know about you, yet I don't," Liara explained, nuzzling into the caress. "Looking around the house this morning, it struck me that I actually know very little about you, in terms of your family, your past, your life before we met. We never seemed to have the time to talk much about that kind of thing."

"I'd still argue that you know me better than anyone else in the galaxy," Shepard offered. "All the important stuff, anyway."

"Yes, I do," Liara agreed, "but as I think I told you a long time ago, I want to know more. I want to know all the little things, details that will make me smile when I see them in another context. It's true that nothing's hidden, but..." she spread her hands in a gesture of surrender, "I just like hearing you talk about things that mean something to you, things that aren't even remotely connected to our day-to-day lives."

Shepard smiled indulgently. "I'll answer any question you want, Li, any time."

"Really?" Liara twisted round to stare at her, to reassure herself the human wasn't joking.

"Really."

"You might regret giving me such unrestricted permissions."

"Babe, there's a part of you embedded in my mind and an unbreakable telepathic connection between us - I think that ship might already have sailed." Shepard winked at her. "Besides, you're cute when you get all inquisitive."

"You're the only person in the galaxy who thinks so," Liara chuckled wryly, warmed from head to toe by a sudden rush of affection for her partner. "And as it happens I _do_ have some more questions." She looked up at the snowy summits that towered over the tree-clad foothills on the far shore of the lake. "Clearwater Lake. What about those mountains - do they have names?"

"Yeah..." Shepard frowned in though for a few seconds, then pointed at the farther of the two summits. "That one's Zodiac Mountain."

"What's a Zodiac?"

Shepard arched an eyebrow. "Wow. Something cultural the omniscient-information-broker-come-xenoarchaeology-expert doesn't know?"

Liara bumped her shoulder playfully. "Goddess, I bare my ignorance to you, and all you can do is mock me? For shame, my love."

Shepard smirked. "You know I'd never mock anything you bare for me, sweetheart," she parried, sliding her hand a few inches up Liara's thigh and pinching the sensitive skin gently. "OK, the zodiac," she paused to collect her thoughts, "is an early celestial co-ordinate system dating back to at least the ancient Greeks, but it's more commonly known as an astrological chart for divining personality attributes. There are twelve signs, for the twelve constellations originally used, and the sun's position in one of twelve equal arcs of the solar ecliptic on the date you're born determines what 'star sign' you are, and therefore your personality traits."

"What sign are you?"

"Aries. The Ram."

"And what are the personality traits of an Aries?"

"Courageous, optimistic, generous, forceful of personality..."

"Check, check, check, and check," Liara chuckled.

"... Moody, impetuous, inflexible and stubborn."

"No, no, no, and yes. Hmm." Liara shot her bondmate a fond glance. "It seems reasonably accurate, though it falls somewhat short of the reality." She drained her coffee and set the mug down on the jetty. "What about me? What would my sign be?"

"Do you know when your birthday is on the earth calendar?"

"I'm not precisely sure. Sometime in September, I think. More toward the beginning."

Shepard thought for a moment. "That would make you a Virgo."

"And my traits?"

Shepard shook her head with a smile. "I can't remember. Most people only bother to learn their own. You'll have to look it up and let me know what you think." Shepard's smile widened, expanding into her familiar lopsided grin. "Although I do remember one thing."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Supposedly we're not really compatible. I'm apparently too bossy for you."

Liara arched her eyebrow markings in mock surprise. "I suppose I have been known to object to your giving me orders, from time to time." She placed one hand over Shepard's and slid it further up her leg, twining their fingers in the frayed hem of her shorts. "But not often. In truth, I find your commanding nature rather appealing. Arousing, even."

Shepard flushed, colour blooming in her cheeks as her eyes darkened slightly. "Careful, Li. Keep talking like that and I'll need to jump in there to cool off." She nodded to the lake.

"Can you swim?"

"Yeah, though I was a late starter. Not too many lakes on spaceships. I had to learn in basic, then I had to qualify for a kilometre to get my recon badges, two kilometres for initiation at ICTS, then throughout the N7 program you do amphibious exercises and assault, dive training, and ocean survival. I'm a bit out of practice, though. What about you?"

"Of course. Asari have an affinity with water - we bear our children in birthing pools, and most asari learn to swim alongside learning to walk." Liara hoisted herself to her feet, and looked down into the inviting, crystal water speculatively. "I haven't indulged in a long time."

"Did you pack your swimsuit?" Shepard asked in a teasing tone. Liara shook her head.

"I don't have one. We don't use them." So saying, seized by the sudden twin urges of wanting to know what the water was like, and wanting to see how Rachel reacted, Liara quickly stripped her t-shirt and shorts. Glancing down, she saw Rachel's mouth drop open. "Like what you see, my love?" she asked, rolling her hips for emphasis.

Shepard made a strangled noise halfway between a splutter and a cough. Grinning, Liara took two quick steps and launched herself into a dive off the end of the jetty.

The shock of hitting the water erased every thought other than a fleeting astonishment at the sudden sharp chill, but by the time she surfaced, feeling very much awake, the water temperature was much more a pleasant coolness than truly cold. Stripping the water from her face, she blinked and opened her eyes, looking up to see Shepard staring at her. "I can't believe you just did that," the human laughed.

"What's not to believe? I felt like taking a swim."

"I just... I forget, sometimes... often... that asari are so comfortable with nudity."

Liara laughed. "Goddess, Rachel, look around you. Even were I not comfortable with it, there's no one around to see me except you. And it's not like you're unfamiliar with the sight."

Shepard crooked a wry grin. " I didn't say I disapproved. Quite the opposite, in fact. And I've never seen you naked outdoors before. I may have to start building time for it into shore party missions in future."

"But for right now, you have weeks to make the most of the opportunity." Liara swam closer to the jetty, anchoring herself by Shepard's dangling legs. "So, are you coming in?"

"I don't have a swimsuit."

"You don't need one," Liara assured her, pressing a kiss to the human's calf. "I'd just end up stripping you out of it anyway. And as I said, there's no one here but us." She looked up with her best pleading expression. "Please, Rachel. Indulge me."

Shepard sighed theatrically. "The things I do for love." Getting to her feet, she peeled off her t-shirt and shorts, then stepped carefully out of her underwear. Liara pushed herself further out into the lake with a lazy backstroke, studying her bondmate as the human steeled herself for the plunge. Rachel had regained enough weight not to look too scrawny, but she was still thinner than Liara was used to, and while her muscles were still reasonably developed thanks to the regenerative programming of her implants, some of the definition Liara expected to feel beneath her fingertips was still lacking. As Shepard recovered fitness, she'd regain them, the asari knew, but the differences were a physical reminder that much had changed. Not least of which were the new set of scars decorating her arms and torso. The wound that had nearly cost Shepard's life had left a long, raised ridge across her right side, an eerie echo of the one adorning Liara's stomach, courtesy of the banshee on Lessus.

"Enjoying the view?" Shepard drawled.

"Very much. Get in here so I can touch as well as look," Liara commanded. Shepard flipped her a jaunty salute, took a deep breath, and folded neatly into a dive, plunging into the water. She broke the surface seconds later in a spray of droplets, gasping and wide-eyed.

"Jesus Christ, Li!" she sputtered, fighting for breath. "You said it wasn't that cold!"

"It's not," Liara protested, a giggle forcing its way past her self-control as she watched the saviour of the galaxy spluttering and swearing over something so commonplace as cold water. "However, I suspect you may have forgotten that I have a lower body temperature than you." She swam over to Shepard, solicitous in spite of her amusement. "Are you OK? Do you need help?"

"No," Shepard declined, puffing, "It just took my breath away for a moment."

Liara caught the evil glint in her bondmate's eye just a split-second too late. Even as she opened her mouth to reply, Shepard slapped the surface of the lake, splashing water up into Liara's mouth and nose. It was the asari's turn to splutter and gasp as the human made a break for the shoreline. Liara sucked in a deep breath and kicked off, sliding under the surface of the lake to better pursue her quarry.

it was too easy. Rachel was badly out of condition from her weeks in hospital, and though Liara hadn't been swimming for a long while, her physical fitness and decades of muscle memory worked in her favour. She overhauled the Spectre within twenty metres, hooking a hand around the human's ankle and dragging her under the water for a few seconds before letting her go.

They broke the surface together, and Shepard was half-coughing, half-laughing as she tried to catch her breath again. Her amusement was infectious, and Liara found herself laughing along, sharing in a pure moment of unadulterated joy, a joy that only intensified with the realisation that they really were free to indulge. Overwhelmed with exuberance, Liara grabbed Rachel's shoulders and leaned in to kiss her bondmate.

"What was that for?" Shepard asked when they broke. "I'm pretty sure I was due some kind of payback."

"Not when you're expecting it," Liara said slyly. "But I just... I like seeing you like this."

"What, naked? Yeah, I know."

"No... well, yes, obviously, but..." Liara floundered for a second, then took a breath and tried again. "You're happy. It's been so rare lately, I'd almost forgotten what... what..." she couldn't think of a good way to phrase what she wanted to say.

"What I'm really like?" Shepard suggested, brutally candid as ever when it came to herself. Liara nodded.

"A situation than I'm sure applies to you as well," she added. "Goddess knows I've not been at my best recently."

"You were more than good enough," Shepard noted, "but if we're going to talk about this, let's get to dry land - I'm gonna get tired real fast treading water."

The shore was close, and the sun had heated the shallows and the thin strip of sand at the water's edge enough to make sitting comfortable. "I guess... I needed this," Shepard said slowly, after a long moment of introspective silence. "This place, or something like it." She threw out an arm to indicate the view. "Look around you, Li. This place hasn't changed in centuries. Sure, little things, like what colour the cabin is, or where there's a campground, but... the war didn't come here. The Reapers didn't touch it. And seeing something that's the same as it used to be, right down to those stupid curtains in my bedroom," Shepard smiled wryly, "well, for some reason, it gives me hope." She picked Liara's hand out of the water, and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "Just being here, seeing this, makes me happy. You being here too, well that makes it even better. I have nothing but happy memories of this place, and now, you're a part of why I'm happy here." She sighed wistfully. "It's a bubble, I know, just a temporary safe-house, shielded from reality, and I know that my own memories and my own brain will tear it up faster than anything else. But just for these brief few moments, I want to remember what it's like not to have to give a damn about anything, to be totally free to be just Rachel, and to be totally, utterly, _completely_ in love with the beautiful asari who agreed to marry me last night."

Tears stung Liara's eyes. Too choked with a peculiar mix of sympathy and triumph to gather any words, she simply threw herself at Rachel, knocking the Spectre flat on her back in the shallow water and pressing a fierce kiss to her lips. Rachel's arms wrapped around her back, crushing her close, and they lay locked in a contented embrace for a good few minutes after the kiss ended, until Rachel shifted, a grimace flickering across her features. Liara rolled off immediately and sat up. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, just a little twinge," the human replied, patting Liara's thigh reassuringly as she sat up as well. "Nothing to worry about. So, yeah... Clearwater Lake."

"And Zodiac Mountain." Liara pointed to the nearer peak. "What about that one? What's that called?"

Shepard thought for a moment, then a broad grin cracked her expression and she began to laugh again, a deep, earnest amusement that had Liara smiling even though she didn't know what was funny. "Rachel, what's so funny?"

"That peak..." Shepard pointed for emphasis, "that one right there?"

"Yes."

Shepard's eyes sparked with pure devilry. "That peak shares its name with another of my favourite places in the galaxy," she drawled, trailing her hand up Liara's thigh. "Somewhere remarkably close by, and coincidentally, another place I have nothing but happy memories of."

Liara looked down at Rachel's hand as it inched closer and closer to the junction of her legs. "Oh...ooooh." Her attempt at a question trailed off as Shepard's fingers grazed ever so lightly against the nub of her sex, and came to rest. "Goddess, you're joking!"

Rachel chuckled as she cupped Liara intimately. "Nope. That is the Azure Mountain, and beyond it lies the Azure Lake." Leaning in, she stole a quick kiss, merriment dancing in her emerald eyes. "I actually couldn't have made that up if I'd tried."

Laughing, Liara slid her arms around Rachel's neck. "Tell me, has the peak ever been conquered?"

Grasping Liara's hips, Shepard tugged the asari astride her, and Liara wrapped her legs around the human's waist. "Many times," Rachel answered huskily, "but the effort is _always_ worthwhile. The experience is...climactic."

"Well, then," Liara murmured, dipping her head to nibble at Rachel's ear, "Why don't you show me the way?"

Rachel laid a tender kiss on Liara's breast, and let out a long happy, sigh. "Damn, but I love it when you're curious, Li."

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><p><em><strong>AN 2**: No, I really didn't make it up. Google it..._


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